Contributed by Ron Inglis, October 2021:
John Thompson Arnot 27 was an Auburn Memorial man who had a less than exemplary record of service in the AIF. Arnot was married to Helen I Arnot and they lived in 23 Normanby Road, Auburn. His mother, Mrs D Stuart also lived in Auburn.
Private Arnot enlisted on 6 March 1916 and embarked on the Wiltshire on 22 August 1916 with fellow Auburn Memorial men Lewis Anderson, Arthur Sheppard, Samuel Grindrod and Robert Lamb, all of whom had been in training camps for at least five months. The Wiltshire arrived in Plymouth UK on 13 October 1916.
Proceeding to France, Arnot was taken on strength of the 13th Battalion in December 1916. He survived the terrible winter of 1916-1917, the April attack at Bullecourt then the Passchendaele offensive in October.
Towards the end of this offensive Private Arnot went AWL for almost a month. The court-marshal found him not guilty of the more serious charge of desertion but guilty of being AWL – his sentence was two years in a military prison with hard labour. The sentence was suspended and never served for, after two years in the AIF, Arnot was killed in action on 28 March 1918 during the German spring offensive.
Today we may look at Private Arnot’s record in a different light. Was he severely traumatised and suffering from a mental condition? Private Arnot’s body was never found so Helen received no photograph of a grave. Nor did she receive any of her husband’s effects for these were lost when the Barunga was sunk by enemy action on its way to Australia. To add insult to injury Arnot’s name was mis-spelt on the Auburn War Memorial, but it is correct on the Honour Roll and in the stained-glass window of the Auburn Presbyterian Church. Arnot’s name is also inscribed on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
John Arnot is honoured on the following memorials in Australia:
- Auburn War Memorial
- Municipality of Auburn 1914-1919 Honour Roll
- Auburn Presbyterian Church First World War Honour Roll
- Auburn Presbyterian Church First World War Memorial Stained-Glass Window
- Roll of Honour Australian War Memorial Canberra
His decorations:
- British War Medal
- 1914-20 Victory Medal
